@conference {40811,
	title = {Variation in meat pH in steers and association with other carcass attributes: analysis of a commercial database},
	booktitle = {Proceedings of the New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	volume = {56},
	year = {1996},
	month = {Jan},
	pages = {187-192},
	publisher = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	organization = {New Zealand Society of Animal Production},
	abstract = {Measurements of meat pH on 16905 steer carcasses supplied to the  Richmond Asian Beef Programme in the 1993/94 and 1994/95 seasons were  analysed for variability between suppliers and associations between pH and  other carcass attributes. Carcass measurements were made 12 hours or later  after slaughter. Factors evaluated included carcass weight, carcass grade,  marbling level, age of cattle, mob size, and use of growth promotants. The frequency distribution of meat pH was highly skewed, with 92\% of  carcasses falling within the range of 5.2 to 5.8, and the remainder forming a  long tail above 5.8, ranging to an extreme value of 7.1. For carcasses falling  in the pH range of 5.2 to 5.8, pH showed a highly significant positive  association with meat colour. As pH rose above 5.8, the slope of the  relationship increased and the percentage of carcasses in the darkest meat  colour category rapidly approached 100\%. In the range 5.2 to 5.8, pH showed highly significant negative (P< 0.0001)  associations with degree of marbling and carcass weight. After adjusting for  carcass weight and marbling score, pH showed a significant positive  association with age of cattle. The percentage of carcasses with a pH above  5.6 was 38\% for carcasses with a marbling score of 1. For every unit  increase in marbling score (up to 5), the percentage of carcasses above a pH  5.6 specification declined by approximately 5\%. However, the proportion of  carcasses with pH above 5.8 showed little association with marbling.  Similarly, effects of weight and cattle age on pH were much more apparent  near the mean pH (5.61) than at pH values at and above 5.8. Mob size had a small but highly significant(P<0.001) effect on the  frequency distribution of pH, with smaller mobs tending to have lower pH.  The effect of smaller mob size was more evident near the high pH range  than in the middle of the frequency distribution. For mobs of 15 or fewer  cattle, 94\% of carcasses had a pH of 5.8 or less. For mobs larger than 15,  91\% of carcasses met this specification. },
	issn = {1176-5283},
	author = {Smith DR and Wright DR and Muir PD}
}
